Reading is my peaceful and proactive hobby. It keeps me occupied without making me feel alone or disturbed.
With advancements in technology, it has also become an inexpensive hobby than traveling or binge-eating, and can be enjoyed by anyone fond of reading.
Reading is also a way of practicing self-discipline (India Study Channel, 2018).
Reading has many benefits for both your physical and mental health. It can help you gain valuable knowledge, exercise your brain, improve your focus and memory, enjoy entertainment, improve your ability to empathize, and improve your communication skills (Healthline, 2019. Oberlo, 2021. LifeHack, 2023).
Reading fiction has been found to improve one’s social cognition and ability to empathize with others. It has also been used to alleviate many different mental health challenges through bibliotherapy, which is the therapeutic use of select reading material (Psychology Today, 2022).
Why Choose Fiction
Reading fiction has many benefits. In children, it helps them learn to interpret and infer, aids creativity, makes them more empathetic, builds vocabulary, helps children learn to focus and can help our children socialize (Friends’ Central School, 2021).
According to a study published in Psychology Today, reading fiction can help you develop empathy by imagining and creating understanding (Psychology Today, 2018). Another study found that reading fiction can be effective for stress relief (Buffer, 2018).
Fiction heals the soul. Yes, it is true. Reading fiction can promote psychological change, heal trauma, and offer spiritual fulfillment. Fictional narratives indeed are medicine for the soul. The notion of reading for therapeutic effect is known as bibliotherapy (Hektoen International, 2019).
2017 is the most traumatic year of my adulthood. It is this year that a Judas Best Friend betrayed me and he expected to be forgiven.
There was a part of me who wanted to forgive, forget and continue the best friendship that lasted for more than 18 years. It was the easiest decision to do but there was also a part of me that gave a warning.
I listened to this voice and moved on with the grief. Truth that was, he was not the most special person in the world. He was an illogical friend and he was the wrong person to be trusted again.
The level of my anxiety was high that time. Every day was a heavy load, and to recover, I returned to reading fiction before consulting a psychiatrist in 2019.
During these years (2017 to 2019), I read a total of 86 books. Only 4 of these 86 are non-fiction. It made me feel better. Thanks to these book series that made me calm:
- Percy Jackson & The Olympians
- Percy Jackson & The Heroes of Olympus
- The Lord of The Rings Trilogy
- The Maze Runner Trilogy
- Artemis Fowl Octalogy
- The Hunger Games Trilogy
I experienced another cycle of grief when my dad died in 2021. This grief was more of a frustration for all I wanted to do was to help him survive.
I am angry until now and at the same time, I understand it is an unhealthy coping strategy to channel my emotions to my dad and to other people.
It takes time to fully heal. Acceptance is a long process and to recover I need to read again. The first book I re-read post-daddy’s death was Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.
There is something magical about this book that brings comfort to my mental health. No one understands my core emotions as a graduate of BS Psychology and I failed to help the one person I wanted to help.
Helping my dad survive would have meant I am like Artemis Fowl. My dad would have lived an extra number of years filled with courage against haters, with hope against despair and with resiliency against fragility.
I do not have time to see a psychiatrist yet. I am busy and I am thankful for being busy. For the time being until I can find a time for counseling, I rely on the books to heal me.
As of this writing, I finished 38 books since 2022. These books are fiction, non-fiction and comics.
Reading self-help overwhelms me. These non-fiction books are therapeutic but are heavy when I read it regularly.
Improve Your Mindset
Reading non-fiction activates the part of the brain responsible for analytical thinking. This is the frontal lobe in particular.
This helps you improve your thought process, allowing you to better understand real-life concepts and making it easier for you to form your own opinions about things (Basmo, 2022).
Best self-help I read last year was The Power of Regret. This is the one that made me categorize the various griefs I had in life.
Daddy’s death is a closed-door regret. It made me frustrated he died, yes. I wanted to help, yes – but there is no chance to do it. The one person worth saving from yesterday’s tragedy is myself.
Some of the most popular non-fiction genres include (Authority Pub, 2022. Language Humanities, 2023):
- Biography – Wikipedia of famous people
- Autobiography – I read the life story of Sampras and Nadal
- Memoir – Looking forward reading “Spare”
- Creative non-fiction – No experience with this
- Journalism – Curated news in Google News is a good place
- Science – All of my science books are about psychology
- Religion & spirituality – I read “Have A Little Faith”
- Cultural & social issues – I have a textbook about sociology
- Business & finance – The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
- History – I have no books like this
In an era of social media and artificial intelligence, reading stays as a fun therapeutic activity. It is a science, an art and a lifestyle whether you read the physical book, audiobook or Kindle.
Reading has also become more competitive. You can even earn money with book reviews. All you need is a YouTube Channel then connect your Channel to YouTube Partner Program (YPP).
Two of my stable favorite reviewers are Jimmy Nuts and Daniel Greene. Both are fantasy book reviewers.
IMPORTANT: Thank you to Microsoft Copilot for helping me write this thing. It helps me feel good!
I AM SURVIVORDEAN 